My pc is a train wreck, help!

[Tymon]

There's an ISO on that thread that downloads at like 2 MB/sec, he should be fine

And yes, you download the Daz Loader, press "install", and you're done.

One thing, make sure you DO NOT INSTALL UPDATE **** KB971033 **** EVER

it comes unchecked by default in the list of updates, if you install it IT WILL BREAK THE ACTIVATION PERMANENTLY

[Cyn]

First I'd like to say thank you very much for the responses and thanks for the PM Mafai. I got home about an hour ago and started my pc and it had windows updates. I do those and then turn off defender+updates and physical memory drops to 20%. I take the case off and check all 3 fans and all are running, but I was disgusted with what I found.

I've owned this desktop for about 3 years now and I'll say I've never cleaned it. It's the first desktop I've owned and only the 2nd pc and to be candid I was just irresponsible. So, I grab my can o' air and get to work. I blasted it till the can was so cold I could barely hold it and it wouldn't blast any more. As soon as I plugged the power cable back in the pc restarts. I work on putting the case back on. I look up, and I have blue screen. Meh, it will fix itself. Well, it forced me to do a system restore.

I'm going to give it the night and tomorrow morning and see how it runs. With the fans being caked with dust I'm just gonna bet that has a little something to do with performance. Also, there was a cable bunch almost resting on top of the heat sink fan. Should I zip tie it up higher?

When I read your OP just now my immediate reaction was to tell you that your CPU heatsink is probably caked with dust... You really should open up and blow out a PC every few months.

[Mikus]

I've started the download, but it's going to take forever. I'll probably start the instal tomorrow. We'll see how it goes. Thanks for the awesome tips everyone.

[Mikus]

Finally got the 7 instal completed. I haven't tried running anything, and I'm out the door to work in a few minutes, but physical memory still hovers from 22-28%. I may have to bite a new hdd i guess if I want to make it right? Also, is it imperative to turn off UAC in 7?

[Crizto]

Thanks for posting that loader. i had completely forgotten the location of it and i was ggoing to need it soon

[Mikus]

Tried logging on to ffxi for the first time since uploading 7 and I can't get my graphics configured All text looks like pure shit. If I go with a higher resolution to compensate, the text box and menus are too small to read. If I enlarge, everything is choppy. I had my wife check them out to make sure it wasn't me and she too said the letters look mooshed together. I tried taking a screenshot, but the SS actually looks good....

I downloaded the latest catalyst driver ( i have ati radeon hd 4830 ) and set everything to max quality and the text looks terrible. The character models are fantastic, but the text is horrid. I went through so many different settings in windower gui, regedit, and ffxi Tools menu and nothing fixed it. Any ideas?

[Mikus]

Forgot to mention, when installing 7 this popped up and saved to my desktop:

Upgrading Windows will affect the following devices and/or programs:

These programs might not work properly after the upgrade. We recommend uninstalling these programs before upgrading. Cancel the upgrade, open Control Panel, and search for "uninstall a program". (Note: Programs marked as * can be safely reinstalled after the upgrade.)

ATI CATALYST Install Manager *
ATI Catalyst Control Center *

[Tymon]

I think you made a mistake when installing windows 7, it looks like you upgraded instead of doing a fresh install?

You can't reformat by running the windows 7 install CD inside of windows vista. You have to boot the CD directly, and delete the Vista partition.

Basically, all your data is still there. You just covered up the problem, didn't fix it.

That's probably your mistake. You're gonna have to do it all over, unfortunately.

[Mikus]

Yeah that's exactly what I did. At least I know what to do with it now. Thanks Tymon.

[Mikus]

I tried doing this before work today and it seemed to do the exact same thing, although I had to leave before it was finished. My understanding is when Vista has been removed and 7 has been freshly installed, I should only have the basic programs installed. So now, I'm thinking my best bet is to restart my pc, go into safe mode, open command prompt, and delete windows. After doing that, boot pc with 7 disc and go from there. Is that about right?

[Mafai]

1. Boot the computer from your Windows 7 installation DVD.
NOTE: Make sure that the CD/DVD drive is selected first and your HDD second in the boot priority order in your BIOS settings. Usually it is by default.

2. When prompted, press any key to boot from the installation DVD.
NOTE: You will only have about 8 seconds to press this key. If you miss it, you will have to restart the computer.

3. Set up your language preferences and click on the Next button. .

4. Click on the Install Now button to start the installation.

5. Check the I accept the license terms box and click on Next.

6. Click on the Custom (advanced) option.

This is where it gets tricky (I don't know exactly what your layout will look like).

If you have only 1 hard drive and not a secondary with stuff your trying to save, highlight everything and hit Delete. Then highlight Disk 0 Unallocated Space and hit "Drive Options (advanced) link" and click format. If your asked for the space size, leave it at the max. Then hit next to continue with the installation like normal.

[Mikus]

Home on lunch and my pc was asleep. When it woke up, everything was wiped which I'm taking as a good thing. I'm in the process of reinstalling ffxi currently so no telling if the text graphics will look better. I downloaded the vista/7 bug fix from POL before starting the install. Thing is, physical memory is still running @23%. I haven't went through and disabled the junk services yet, but at this point I'm thinking I have a hardware issue. Thanks again everyone for the help as I really appreciate it.

[Aevis]

running w7 only + firefox browsing bg, my ram sits @ 1.5gb = 25% from 6gb total. no hardware issue there. iirc w7 takes a bit more than 1gb for itself just to run, with default settings.

[Mikus]

running w7 only + firefox browsing bg, my ram sits @ 1.5gb = 25% from 6gb total. no hardware issue there. iirc w7 takes a bit more than 1gb for itself just to run, with default settings.

Oh wow I had no idea it was so much. Although I've already gave thanks to those helping me through this, I want to say again how thankful I am to have a place to go to for help with my pc.

After googling my problem(s) the links given rarely help me resolve my problems. Most sites are blogs where it appears those hosting it are trying to look super smart or others have so many comments posting what was wrong with the answer to the issue. Only semi reliable site I found was Tom's Hardware but I'd just rather come here, especially because the main thing I use my desktop for is ffxi.

This experience also makes me want to learn so much more about pcs. I started going to college 6 years ago for programming but had to take a break, which I'm still on..., because of bills and just in general life stuff. I just don't feel it's right that places like Best Buy charge what they do for rather simple, or even intermediate repairs whether hardware or software when if people can be pointed in the right direction, and with a little education, they can help themselves and/or friends.

[Olo401]

Yeah 23-25% sounds about normal for a fresh boot (maybe a little more if you have an antivirus loaded). When you get up to 75-80% memory in use you should start worrying.

[Mikus]

So! Today I finally get Windows 7 fully installed, not Vista, ffxi loaded and all the other programs I use! And.....text still looks like shit! Well, it's not so so bad after I DL ffxi UI, but I'm still unhappy with it as it's not the same. I have XI loaded on my wifes 4 yr old shitty laptop and the text is more legible on that machine.

Am I missing something I should've downloaded? Framework or something? I also made sure the proper ATI driver is installed and there aren't any errors on the HD after doing chkdsc or however you spell it.

[Mafai]

So! Today I finally get Windows 7 fully installed, not Vista, ffxi loaded and all the other programs I use! And.....text still looks like shit! Well, it's not so so bad after I DL ffxi UI, but I'm still unhappy with it as it's not the same. I have XI loaded on my wifes 4 yr old shitty laptop and the text is more legible on that machine.

Am I missing something I should've downloaded? Framework or something? I also made sure the proper ATI driver is installed and there aren't any errors on the HD after doing chkdsc or however you spell it.

Wait, was this all about your text looking bad or your PC running like crap?

The issue lies in your 2 resolution settings for ffxi. I manually edit mine through the registry, which I don't recommend you do.

Try opening launcher_gui in your windower folder. Check the advanced box and up your background x and y. I do the max on both. After you do that hit import and then start windower as normal. It should look better.

[Mikus]

Wait, was this all about your text looking bad or your PC running like crap?

The issue lies in your 2 resolution settings for ffxi. I manually edit mine through the registry, which I don't recommend you do.

Try opening launcher_gui in your windower folder. Check the advanced box and up your background x and y. I do the max on both. After you do that hit import and then start windower as normal. It should look better.

To begin with, definitely the pc running like crap. The system itself is running a lot better. hasn't went over 30% except when I logged into XI.

edit: found my error with importing. Will log in now and see if fixed.

[Mikus]

Nope, still looks like shit. Followed directions from this thread too: http://www.bluegartr.com/threads/105...Does-Not-Exist

When logging in from POL it looks great. Windower, shit.

Here are my settings I'm using

Spoiler: show

#Windower 3.3 Config File
#Final Fantasy XI window resolution
x-resolution = 1280
y-resolution = 800
#PlayOnlineViewer Language (JP, US, or EU)
language = US
#Windower Console Key
console-key = insert
#------------Registry Settings For GUI Launcher-------
#all commands for gui must start with #
#commands prefixed with / will be ignored
#background-x = 1024
#background-y = 1024
#enviro-animation = 2
#texture-compression = 2
#mipmaps = 1
#maxsounds = 20
#bumpmapping
#soundenabled
#hardwaremouse
#advancedsettings

I've tried 1440x900, 1280x800, 1280x768, 1024x768, all with background set to 1024x1024. All have good character/model graphics, text boxes, Send/Receive, and even gear boxes look fuzzy and blocky.

[Mafai]

Nope, still looks like shit. Followed directions from this thread too: http://www.bluegartr.com/threads/105...Does-Not-Exist

When logging in from POL it looks great. Windower, shit.

Here are my settings I'm using

Spoiler: show

#Windower 3.3 Config File
#Final Fantasy XI window resolution
x-resolution = 1280
y-resolution = 800
#PlayOnlineViewer Language (JP, US, or EU)
language = US
#Windower Console Key
console-key = insert
#------------Registry Settings For GUI Launcher-------
#all commands for gui must start with #
#commands prefixed with / will be ignored
#background-x = 1024
#background-y = 1024
#enviro-animation = 2
#texture-compression = 2
#mipmaps = 1
#maxsounds = 20
#bumpmapping
#soundenabled
#hardwaremouse
#advancedsettings

I've tried 1440x900, 1280x800, 1280x768, 1024x768, all with background set to 1024x1024. All have good character/model graphics, text boxes, Send/Receive, and even gear boxes look fuzzy and blocky.

I just tried to find my registry key and it wasn't in the normal spot. I can't do too much digging from work so Ill have a look tonight when I'm home.

Edit: set the background to max and see if its better